Flickering by Beth P.

The soothsayer saw it

Or at least she said she did

The three dollar carnival prophet

saw the flickering

of the light.

Don’t let your fire burn out

she told me earnestly

Guard your flame

Let it glow across miles

in the night.

It is the fire of Hell

And I told her so

This burning in me

it is pain

it is rage

The brighter it burns

The more lucid my cries

Light is unfriendly

Truth is not freedom

Truth is a cage

Burn the truth with your fire

The fortune teller said

And that was all

My three dollars were up

and the light burns on.